


Thoughts on Dororo

by Cheekybee07



Series: Scattered Thoughts [2]
Category: Dororo (Anime 2019), Dororo (Manga)
Genre: Essays, F/M, Gen, Other
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-28
Updated: 2020-06-28
Packaged: 2021-03-04 02:47:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,137
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24962509
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cheekybee07/pseuds/Cheekybee07
Summary: Initial thoughts on the genius of the anime after watching it the first time
Relationships: Dororo & Hyakkimaru (Dororo)
Series: Scattered Thoughts [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1806682
Comments: 3
Kudos: 18





	Thoughts on Dororo

The premise was deceptively simple and yet had endless layers. A feudal lord sacrificed his son to the demons in return for peace and prosperity to his domain. The son grows up and defeats the demons who took pieces of him to regain his body. And a plucky young girl crosses his path and they help each other grow.

I love that she, who was forced to grow up too quickly because of the war, was able to experience being a child by being under his protection. You could see it in the way he cares for her and offers her fruit first, to give her the freedom to admire her surroundings because she can trust him to look out for them. Hyakkimaru in turn was able to experience pieces of childhood and humanity by walking down the same path with her. In fact, he gained more pieces of himself by being with her than anything he could have taken back from the demons.

I loved it more that it was about self growth and finding the strength of the heart in connections and yourself. It's the kind of a time that leaves you pondering and discover something new every time you revisit memories of scenes.

Years later they end up together and I'm happy it ends that way. That they grow together, separate ways to continue to grow and pursue their goals, then meet again to walk the path together that they started. I think that is the best way to have a relationship with someone.

His first meaningful connection was her. Her name was his first word. His smile was for her, because of her. Even his first clear vision and ability to hold someone was with her. He saw the sky she described to him and he was able to see the beauty through her eyes on his own. He was finally able to hold her and see her.

_To tell her she's beautiful._

She was the first to truly stay by him, even when others would have been horrified by his appearance and would most likely call him a demon even then. Gaining pieces of himself didn't affect her admiration for him, in the strength of his heart.

_Through her eyes, he was already whole._

In turn she is his first and enduring tie to his humanity. When he was in danger of becoming enslaved to his emotions and inner demons, Dororo is able to hold him back with her touch, her words, her tears. She was willing to be his limbs, his eyes, his arms, so that he didn't need to succumb to his inner demons. She desperately tries to rub her forehead against his to anchor him back to her world, to the world he belongs in as well.

His mother recognized that critical fact that they were meant to travel the twisted path together. When she heard he traveled with a small child, she was comforted that someone was by his side the whole time. No true demon can walk the path of hell and keep such innocence so close to them. Even in the end, his mother Lady Miu, asked Dororo to remain by his side.

I think her name is the way it is because to me it is a play on words for kokoro, which is heart in Japanese. Interesting his heart was not one of the main pieces that he could take back by force. It was slowly built with his interactions with people. To experience heartbreak with Mio, despair with nearly not being able to save Dororo from the rising waters, even his own family turning his back on him. All that built his heart brick by brick, reinforced the strength of his spirit that refused to flicker in the face of the hellish path carved out for him.

It had to be him that the demons would only make the deal. Not his mother, or his brother and friends or even a goddess would all twelve demons be willing to make such a pact. His strength of spirit was hinted early and it continued to glow even when it was just an ember and truly blaze to life when he was finally able to leave the cave and come out not a demon, not quite human but the in between.

_A creature that has walked both roads and carved his own path, his own future._

I Iike that scene when she describes the seasons to him. And he just listens to her speak freely. She points out if he's actually listening and he responds that he likes to hear her stories. He treats her with respect. He speaks the most with her. He keeps his conversations to a minimum with everyone but her. With her, he can also truly be himself.

I also love the scene when he's practicing with his newly mended swords. Dororo mentions he's happy and the swordsmith and the daughter are surprised she could tell when he has such minimal expressions. And the father tells her that they have gone through so much and there was never any room for her from the beginning. To have those kinds of struggles will propel you to know someone to that extent. Even Hyakkimaru knew when Dororo was truly happy and he was able to express he was happy. Even his adopted father was amazed that Hyakkimaru was capable of smiling now.

At one point he was so driven to get his body back that he loses sight of Dororo. Through her, he realizes what's truly important. Through his brother, he was able to see the emptiness in people's souls. That even though his emptiness was most visible, people sacrifice pieces of themselves and of others for their own gain and search for power and greed.

He was able to see people were missing their own pieces and reached out to try and get those pieces back like him.

Even when it was within his right to punish his father for his sins, he was strong enough to walk away from the thirst for vengeance and tell his father that they were only human and that fate could be changed with their own hands, not at the hands of others, of gods and demons.

To realize meaning beyond getting his body back was to have her by his side. To walk the path of hell with someone who sees you. Truly sees you and supports you. To have someone who has experienced their own hell and still have the capacity to support you through your own. To support each other and still have goals on your own to achieve together.

So heartbreakingly beautiful. This is definitely one of the stories that would remain with you. So many complicated themes you can endlessly ponder.


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